statistics. and to see what was going on. >> most of the information that i got off of the internet came from government founded websites so that's how i knew that the information i was getting is legitimate. >> this year's theme your message to washington defendant c. what was the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to address in 2017. our competition is open to all middle school or high school students grades 6 through 12. with $100,000 awarded with prices. students with work alone or in a group of up to 3 to produce a 5 to 7 minute documentary on the issues selected. also exmother opposing opinions. the $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded and shared between 150 students and 53 teachers and the grand prize, $5,000 will go to the student or team with the

best overall entry. this year's deadline is january 20th, 2017. so mark your calendars and help us spread the word to student film makers. for more information go to our website student cam.org. >> road to the white house rewind continues with the victory speech by george w. bush in 2000. they defeated al gore in one of the most highly contested races in history. it wasn't decided until five months after they stopped a florida recount and awarded the state's electoral votes and presidency to governor bush. this was recorded in the texas house of representatives in austin. it's about ten minutes. >> thank you. >> thank you very much.

good evening my fellow americans. i appreciate so very much the opportunity to speak with you tonight mr. speaker, friends, distinguished guests. our country has been through a long and trying period with the o outcome of the presidential election not finalize for not longer than any of us could ever imagine. vice president gore and i put our hearts and hopes into our campaigns. we both gave it our allful we shared similar emotions so i understand how difficult this moment must be for vice president gore and his family. he has a distinguished record of service to our country as a congressman, a senator and a vice president. this evening i received a gracious call from the vice president. we agreed to meet early next week in washington and we agreed

to do our best to heal our country after this hard fought contest. tonight i want to thank all the thousands of volunteers and campaign workers who worked so hard on my behalf i also salute the vice president and his supporters for waging a spirited campaign and i thank him for a call that i know was difficult to make. laura and i wish the vice president and senator lieberman and their families the very best. i have a lot to be thankful for tonight. i alabama thankful for america. and thankful that we're able to resolve our electoral differences in a peaceful way and thankful to the american people for the great privilege of being able to serve as your next president. i want to thank my wife and our daughters for their love. laura's active involvement as

first lady has made texas a better place and she will be a wonderful first lady of america. [ applause ] >> i am proud to have dic dick chaney by my side and america will be proud to have him as our next vice president. tonight i chose to speak from the chamber of the texas house of representatives because it's been a home to bipartisan cooperation. here in a place where democrat versus the majority, republicans

and democrats have worked together to do what is right for the people we represent. we have had spirited disagreements and in the end we found constructive consensus. it is an experience i will always carrie with me and an example i will always follow. i want to thank my friend house speaker a democrat that introduced me today. i want to thank the legislators from both political parties with whom i have worked. across the hall and texas capital is the state senate and i can't help but think of our mutual friend. >> and they continue to be a model for all of us. [ applause ]

>> the spirit of co-op ration i have seen in this hall is what is needed in washington defendant c. it is the challenge of our moment. and work together to make the promise of america available for every one of our citizens. i'm optimistic that we can change the tone in washington defendant c. i believe things happen for a reason and i hope the long wait of the last five weeks will heighten a desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past. our nations must rise above a house divided. americans share hopes and goals and values far more important than any political disagreements. republicans want the best for our nation and so do democrats.

our votes may differ but not our hopes. i know america wants reconciliation and unity. i know americans want progress and we must seize this moment and deliver. together guided by a spirit of common sense, common curtesy and common goals we can unite and inspire the american citizens. together we will work to make all our public schools excellent teaching every student of every background and accent so that no child is left behind. together we will save social security and renew it's promise of a secure retirement for generations to come. together we will strengthen medicare and offer prescription drug coverage to all of our seniors. together we will give americans the broad fair and fiscally responsibility tax relief they deserve together we'll have a by

par san foreign policy true to our values and true to our friends. and we'll have a military equal to every challenge and superior to every adversary. together we'll address society's deepest problems. one person at a time by encouraging and empowering the good hearts and good works of the american people. this is the essence of compassion and conservatism. and it will be a foundation of my administration. these priorities are not merely republican concerns or democratic concerns. they are american responsibilities. during the fall campaign we differed about the details of these proposals but there was remarkable consensus about the important issues before us. excellent schools. retirement and health security. tax relief. a strong military, a more civil

society. we have discussed our differences. now it is time to find common ground and build consensus to make america a beacon of opportunity in the 21st century. i'm optimistic this can happen. our future demands it. and our history proves it. >> a tie in the electoral college and outcome into the hands of congress. after six days of voting and 36 ballots. the house of representatives elected thomas jefferson the third president of the united states. that election brought the first transfer of power from one party to another in our new democracy. shortly after the election jefferson in that letter title reconciliation and reform wrote this. the steady character of our countrymen is a rock to which we

made safely more reasonable in manner. we should be able to hope to do a great deal of good to the cause of freedom and harmony. 200 year versus only strengthened the steady character of america and so as we begin the work of healing our nation and solve any problem. something else to ask you. to ask every american. i ask for you to pray for this great nation. i ask for your prayers for leaders from both parties i thank you for prayers for me and my family and ask you to pray for vice president gore and his family. i have faith with that god's help we as a nation will move forward together as one nation

indivisble. we'll create an america that's open so every citizen has access to the american dream. an america that is educated. so every child has the keys to realize that dream and a america united in our diversity and shared values that are larger than race or party. i was not elected to serve one party but to serve one nation. the president of the united states is the president of every single american of every race and every background and i will earn your respect. i will stand for principle and to be reasonable in manner and above all to do great good for the cause of freedom and

harmony. and i will give it my fall. thank you very much and god bless america. >> the outcome was not decided until five weeks after voters went to the polls. when the u. s. supreme court stopped a florida recount. this ultimately awarded the state's electoral votes and the presidency to governor bush. this is about 7 minutes.

>> good evening just moments ago i spoke with george w. bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the united states and i promised him that i wouldn't call him back this time. and partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. i'm with you mr. president and god bless you. well in that same spirit i say to president elect bush that what remains partisan must now be put aside and may god bless his stewardship of this country. neither he nor ian gatt anticip this long and difficult road. neither one of us wanted it to

happen. it came and it has ended. resolved as it must be resolved through the honored institutions of our democracy. over at the library on one of our great law schools is inscribed not under man but under rule and law. that's the source of our dell cattic libertieliberties. i tried to make it my guide throughout the contest as it guided america's deliberations of all the context issue of the past five weeks. now the u. s. supreme court has spoken. let there be no doubt that while i strongly disagree with the court's decision, i accept it. i accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next monday in the electoral college and tonight for our sake and unity of a people and strength of our democracy i offer my concession and accept my responsibility which i will discharge unconditionally to

honor the new president elect and do everything possible to help him bring americans together in fulfillment of the great vision that our declaration of independence defines and our constitution affirms and defends. let me say how grateful i am to all of those that supported me and supported the cause for which we have fought. we feel a deep gratitude to those that brought passion and high purpose to our partnership and opened new doors not just for our campaign but our country. this has been an extraordinary election. but in one of god's unforseen paths this broken impasse can point us all to a new common ground. it can remind us that we are one people with a shared history and a shared destiny. indeed that history gives us many examples of contests as hotly debated as fiercely fought with their own challenges to the

popular will. other disputes have dragged on for weeks before reaching resolution. and each time both the victor and the vanquished accepted the result peacefully and in the spirit of reconciliation. so let it be with us. but our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country. i do not believe it need be so. president elect bush inherits a nation whose citizens will be ready to assist him in the conduct of his large

responsibilities. we close ranks and come together when the contest is done and while there will be time enough to debate our continuing differences now there's time to recognize that that which unites us is greater than that which divides us. while we do not yield our opposing believes, there is a higher duty than the one we owe to political party. this is america. and we put country before party. we will stand together behind our new president. as for what i'll do next i don't know the answer to that one yet.

i know i'll spend time in tennessee and mend some fences literally and figuratively. some have asked whether i have any regrets. and i do have one regret. that i didn't get the chance to stay and fight for the american people over the next four years. especially those that need burdens lifted. especially for those that feel their voices have not been heard. i heard you and i will not forget. i have seen america in this campaign and i like what i see. it's worth fighting for and that's a fight i'll never stop. as for the battle that ends tonight i do believe as my father once said that no matter how hard the loss, at the feet may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out. so for me this campaign ends as it began with with the love of tipper and our family. with faith in god and in the country i have been so proud to serve from vietnam to the vice

presidentcy and with gratitude to our tireless campaign staff and volunteers including all of those that worked so hard in florida for the last 36 days. now the political struggle is over. and multitudes around the world that look to us with leadership and the cause of freedom. >> let us crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. and it's time for me to go. thank you and good night and god bless america. >> cspan where history unfolds daily. in 1979 cspan was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and it is brought to you today by your cable and satellite

provider. >> it's a film promoting the advantages of replacing paper ballot with voting machines.

i am on my way to the grand opening of what i considered to be the greatest show on earth. first time its plagued our county but we think when the curtain closes tonight this will be a different place to live. i had a little something to do with it. that is a man i wrote about in a series of news stories did. my beat the county courthouse and if you know anything about county courthouses that's democracy's show place. i don't have any free press passes for you but you can get good seats if your credentials say usa that probably gives it away. but we announce this is going to be a flag waving production. if that be niave let them make the most of it. if there's been more of it lately this show would play to standing room only. however there are plenty of

seats. but it's curtain time. >> you can legislate all the laws you want about the right to vote but whether you actually have an active electorate or not

comes down like everything else to a matter of action on the part of a very few men and what kind of arrangements they make. in your community it may approximate some other official like your councilman. in ours it's the county commissioner that carried the assignment of seeing that there's a way and means of every american to run his country between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on that first tuesday in november. all the voting machines are over 60 years old and are already being used by about half the voters in america. our commissioners still have h had to sell the idea here. a lot of work but they felt worth doing. they got me on their team when commissioner miller told me about the ease and speed of voting with machines over paper ballot.

when the voter is properly qualified the election official admits him to the machine. and there's over 19 and a half centuries invested in achieving just that. the voter selects his candidate by turning down the voting pointers directly above the names of his candidate then records and counts his own vote by returning the operating handle to the left that's all there is to it. he does not hand any papers to any human being. his vote is made and cast. untouched by other human hands or mine. and that's a long step up from ty tyranny.

the ballot is right at the voter's wry level. easily read and all offices and all candidates are at the same eye level. no candidate suffers by being placed in an unfavorable position. it's all over the county when he addressed them by reminding them of the large number of societiers disinfranchised every year at the paper ballot polls by making mistakes. they made check marks where xs are required. they might as well have stayed home. that vote is a no vote. doesn't count. other voters find that at the last minute they have accidentally voted for the wrong

man. >> he is entitled to choose five state representatives but she marked 6. this is a no vote. simple mistake but out of every thousand people. some hurry. some nervous. some uninformed. how many do you think do it perfectly? the commissioner figures there's some excuse being d

disenfranchised by war or fear. yes it can happen here. but not for well intentioned mistakes. not in this age of the voting machine. and pushing the pointer back up and has no pencil to break or paper to tear which will not let you vote for more than you're allowed. it will not turn if you cast all of your votes. questions and issues if any are placed up here on the top of the ballot. the pointers are marked yes and no and for or against. the machine won't let you spoil your ballot by voting both ways.

and when you're satisfied with with your vote a new privilege awaits you. you will register and count your own vote by returning this handle. walk away knowing your ballot cannot be disqualified thrown out nor miscounted. it's already counted the moment you leave. nor can the machine make a mistake. it cannot be opened except by a key. >> it looks complex. and it looks so because of a large number of voting units in

it. and actually each is a straight mechanical linkage and rugged action like this. and 35 states and territory of hawaii. about half of our american voters voted by machine. why? why? well, newspapers run after answers. so did the commissioner and the first answer was it's so fast and so easy. just three simple steps. first move the red operating handle to the right. second select your candidate and third throw the red handle to

the left to count and record your own vote. why else machine voting. >> we've had no trouble about that in this county but we don't want to be either. the commissioners understood about fear. and it's a very, very subtle thing. this voters opinion is in the machine. not on any piece of paper that

passes from hand to hand. why else voting machines? the automatic voting machine absolutely eliminates the disenfranchisement that comes from mistakes. the count is mechanically accurate and of course of interest to me and 170 million others is the fact that immediately after the last voter the election results are

available. the results are available right now. my paper can get the result which means that the radio and tv stations can get the results hours earlier. just read the figures off the counters to the recorders. then check the recorded figures back against the counters. announce the results in five to ten minutes. how about the good old days. counting was a five hour job if things went smoothly.

>> if not if not well then it was five days.

voting machines vote more people much faster. therefore you can consolidate your precinct. sometimes even two for one. cuts in half your need for hard to find election workers. madison wisconsin for example eliminated 170 election workers and multiply by a days pay and you see what kind of savings we're talking about plus the counting takes a quarter of an hour as opposed to 3 to 6 hours. fewer people, fewer hours equals fewer dollars. not always of course. >> paper ballots require at least one ballot for every voter. voting machines one printed

ballot per machine. and saves just one old style county wide recount and your machines are nearly home free. they had to compete in this county with the intention of people pressing the clock hard every day. it has to compete against speed and motion regretly even against america's second cup of coffee. everything else in the county competes hard for the citizens increasingly valuable time. our churches were modernizing with parking lots to get into faster.

our schools modernize to command his respect and his tax dollar. the tools which our average citizen uses every day has become fantastically automatic and fast as industry moves to automation. democracy is the foundation. the heart of that democracy is

the poll which were still being run in our county the way they were when we held inauguration day on march 4th so the new president would have three months to iride his horse to washington. the driving question on the commissioners mind can democracy compete with it's right hand tied to a hitching post? his answer in our county is what i consider the greatest show on earth. it's bringing out the people. as the commissioner likes to say, we have really become one of the freedom curtain counts.

>> wednesday night highlights from the annual churchill conference in d.c. >> part of american history tv in primetime each night this week. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cspan 3. cspan where history unfolds daily. in 1979 cspan was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider.

>> he created ten commandments for presidential leadership. up next on the presidency, mr. boston discusses the commandments and provides examples of presidents that excel at each one. he is the author of cross examining history. a lawyer gets answers from the experts about our presidents. the denver forum hosted this hour long event. >> he's a big time texas attorney. a major force in the legal community of texas. he wrote two books on baseball. really wonderful books and he came to the series to speak about one of the books and he then wrote a book and

significant book but his new book is about leadership. and about leadership with the presidential level and there was a time in the history of politics and the history of governments and we need to understand what that really means. it seems to have greatly confused this election year terrific with wonderful kids and just a great texan which means he's a great american. welcome please the one and only, the great talmige boston. good evening. thank you for making this

wonderful evening possible. one of the great things about having a new book out and going across the krcountry is being ae to get in front of world affairs councils all over the country and see they carry on this important mission of adult education as well as reaching out to students and thank goodness we have organizations like the world affairs council because they make our world a better place. we are now less than a month away. from november 8th election day when our country will finally be put out of its misery. and we will choose who will become the 45th president of the united states. many of you already know who is going to get your vote. there may be some in this audience that are undecided. the polls reflect that there are still people undecided. and the choice this year is

shall we say complicated since both the candidates have negative approval ratings above 50% which means that both people are not really voting in favor of a candidate rather they are voting against a candidate. >> i'm not going to tell you who to vote for. i'm not going to say anything good or bad about either candidate. that would be foolish on my part because it would cutoff part of my book sales. i'm going to give you something new to chew on between now and election day. you probably heard that most people love history for two reasons. the first reason is because it shows us how much things change and the second reason is it shows us how much things stay the same. and one of the main ways that history shows us how many things

stay the same is the traits that make for a great presidential leader are the same in 2016 as they were in 1789 when george washington got sworn in. now for my new book cross examining history after completing my 31 interviews with with presidential experts i synthesize part of what i learn and what i call the 10 commandments of presidential leadership. >> this audience is filled with with leaders. we have business leaders and civic leaders. all kinds of leaders and the young people future leaders. i believe these traits are important for all leaders. and face the most important decisions of their eras and met them in ways that set the standard. not just for presidential leadership but for all that are in leadership positions.

>> he said something very important. nothing happens in our federal government without presidential leadership. and the reason for that is congress cannot take prompt action because they are truly a heard of cats. the president and only the president has to manage the process and if the president doesn't then the process doesn't get managed now that quote made me think of baseball hall of famer reggie jackson who during his glory day with the new york yankees would always refer to himself as the straw that stirred the drink.

let's now turn to the ten commandments. to his name sake landmark in washington defendant .c. always do the right thing when times get tough and no one is looking and the president that set the standard and to get deeper on understanding george washington i interviewed david and gene hidler husband and wife

historians that happen to live in colorado springs and just retired at the air force academy and they had a terrific biography that kacame out in th wall street journal. i want to understand how did it manifest itself. where did it come from? and it said well in terms of how he presented himself there was a strong physical component to it he was a large man and 6'2". which would be like 6'8" compared to now. he had these pale blue eyes and broad nose and whenever he would speak publicly he always spoke very slowly. he did that to make sure he never misspoke. came across almost like the

voice of god in the way george washington expressed himself publicly. when you have this huge presence and unusual speaking style whenever george washington entered a room people would stop what they were doing and take notice and immediately go into a mode of best behavior. >> where did it come from? how did he get an extraordinary level of integrity? like most people speg riintegri begins as a child. he has wonderfully highly ethical parents. and how he ramped up his integrity came in his early teens when he was learning how to do cursive handwriting. that's his autograph. he had a strong hand with a great flourish to it and in george washington's era the way

people learned how to do cursive handwriting is they got copy books. these were published books with beautifully elegant handwriting and people would copy them over and over again until their pen menship matched up with the standards and his favorite was written by jesuit priests and entitled rules of civility and descent behavior in company and conversation so washington fell in love with this book and learned the rules backwards and forward and the idea you also disciplined your mind and it worked with george washington whose rules became his code for living for the rest of his life. i obviously read all 110 of them but two that stood out for me first every action done in

company ought to be done with some sign of respect for all that are present and the second one which ties into the first commandment he said labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscious. now as president he maintained his virtue by reading daily devotionals attending church every sunday and making sure that every action he took was in complete come plie complete compliance with the new constitution as well as with the jesuit rules. he left in early 1797 and two years later he died and there was a partisan of the area that decided he wanted to do something special. he decided he was going to write a biography of washington.

one of the most famous was george washington at age 6. i cut down the cherry tree with my had hatchet and that was an early 19th century version of esop's fable but it absolutely told the truth and to be able to serve as conscious in chief. we get national scandals like richard nixon and watergate and bill clinton and his shenanig s

shenanigans. when you see the washington monument think of it as a capital i that stands for the integrity of george washington. second commandment, a great leader shall stay above the partisan fray and should be able to build consensus. it's an essential part of the american success story and that's how government works. people going across the aisle having dialogue and compromising and being able to legislate effectively. it means out of many, one. yes in most groups there's usually more than one faction. it's the great leader that has the horsepower to pull them together and get a collective enterprise going and eliminate the dysfunction and the president who was particularly

good at staying above the partisan fray and being able to build consensus was thomas jefferson. the jefferson biographer was peter. he spent over 20 years. thomas jefferson foundation of history at the university of virginia and is the author of six books on thomas jefferson. since we live in a world where nobody is able to build consensus in our federal government i wanted to vote much of the interview to understanding how did jefferson do it? particularly because he was operating at a difficult time where the federalist party controlled by john adams and alexander hamilton was in constant conflict with the republican party controlled by jefferson and james madison and it got so bad that during adam's presidency the congress passed the sedition act of 1798 that

made it a prime punishable by incarceration when people are being thrown in swral fjail for speech and criticizing a political leader thomas jefferson became president when the country was barely a decade old and he made it his priority to reach across the aisle and build consensus. in his first inaugural address close to the very beginning he said we are all featherweights and all republicans. don't we wish we had a candidate in 2016 that can express those kinds of sentiments.

but beyond that how do you build consensus. politics is all about relationshi relationships. if you want to build consensus you can only do it after you built relationships with those across the aisle. he said throughout his presidency of 8 years thomas jefferson would have regular on going dinner parties at the e c executive mansion where his only guests were the leaders of the party. and wonderful food and wine and thomas jefferson was a very charming character and ultimate renaissance man. he can talk about music and can talk about art, architecture, history, agriculture, you name it. and he was dazzling conversationalist about any subject. on going steady diet of dialogue with people on the other side of

the aisle, the walls started coming down and peel started to be able to act together as americans and trying to make the government work. now we know what happens when we have a president unable to stay above the partisan fray and that lacks the tool to be able to build relationships so as to be able to build consensus with those across the aisle. we'll get exactly what we had the last pu years. total gridlock and a government that doesn't work anymore. so when you're in washington defendant c. and you see the jefferson memorial, think of each of those columns as a faction. and think of them as all being unified together under the perfect jefferson dome and remember thomas jefferson the president that made it his priority to bring the factions together and make government work during his presidency.

third commandment. a great leader shall know his limitations and know how to supplement his limitations. this takes self-awareness. this takes knowing what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? and for those areas where you are weak being able to connect with somebody that's strong in the areas where you're weak and make it work. and the one that was the best at this trait was james madison. now for his strengths he was very smart. he was brilliant. he also knew he was an extremely hard worker. he had a work ethic second to none. but for his weaknesses he was a >> and although he was brilliant in a level-headed sort of way, he lacked creativity and he knew that. so the madison biographer, for my book, is award winning david

stewart, came out in 2015, madison's gift is about how madison went about building partnerships with those who were strong in the areas where he was weak. how did james madison compensate for being a skronny little guy who got lost in every crowd. he buddied up with great big george washington. and washington was smart enough to know that he needed some more horsepower. he wasn't brilliant, he needed a little brilliance to add to the conservation. and so madison and washington locked arms at the constitutional convention and in the early days of the washington presidency and did more together than either of them could have done individually. so what did madison did to compensate for the fact that he had no charisma.

david stewart said he buddied up with the dynamic of the founders. hamilton who had this great vision of how we're going to get the constitution ratified came up with the brilliant idea, the papers to be able to pull it off, he couldn't do it alone. he needed somebody equally hardworking, they joined forces, wrote the federalist papers and led the charge to get the states to ratify the constitution. so what did madison do to compensate for not having any creativity, he buddied up with thomas jefferson, creative genius. jefferson was smart enough to know a lot of his creative ideas were off the wall, unrealistic, crazy, he needed somebody levelheaded to bring him down to earth. you have this perfect balance, levelheaded genius in madison, creative genius in jefferson,

together they invented our federal government that has served us so well for so long. now, in washington, we've got the james madison memorial building at the library of congress. and inside the library of congress you have the original of the constitution. and when you look at the constitution, think about the fact that the only way its words have power is because the words are partnered together in s synchronize, the word standing alone has no import. when you think about the constitution, think about james madison, the man we call the father of the constitution who had this extraordinary gift of knowing his strengths and his weaknesses in forming partnerships with those who were strong in the areas where he was weak. fourth commandment, a great leader shall persevere over setbacks, nothing stops the

great leader. when the ops goes in the ditch, the great leader finds the way to get the ox out of the ditch. and the president set the standard in this trait was franklin roosevelt. for my book. on franklin roosevelt. i interviewed ken burns. i hope to you got to see the in the fall of 2014 and jeffrey ward ken's collaborator. written three biographies, one of which was a finalist of the surprise and jamess toban, each of these biographers during my interview with him, focused on the fact until age 39 franklin roosevelt he love to dance, te love to work the crowds hard.

all of a sudden in 1921 came to grimy halt when he was attacked and loss the use of his legs for the rest of his life. yes, he was a major set back hold him back for longs. he talked to his steadfast resolve and first class temperament and how because of that he maintained his self confidence. he kept a smile on his face long after he had lost the bounce in his step. and by over coming and defying polio, he was the guy, his tenacity got the country to accept him at his word when he said, we've got nothing to fear but fear itself. by over coming the reality of a major disability, roosevelt grew the wisdom of joseph kimball.

where you stumble that's where your treasures lie. by define polio, roosevelt found resources ie treasure that he didn't know he had, polio he is intellectual rich guy. he had the common touch and communicate with the masses and little people and middle people because he knew the struggles of life -- and before -- franklin roosevelt memorial. when you look at, look at the strong countenance on his face. this is a guy who is capable of doing anything. but you notice that the rest of his body he's seated and cloaked

so as not to draw attention to his legs. when you see that image, remember how important it is for president to persevere and triumph over setbacks like franklin roosevelt did. great leader should know how to play hard ball when necessary. the president of modern era who was particularly good at that was dwight eisenhower. from my book the writer was jean edward smith, a finalist who during the interview and in his biography talked to one fantastic example of how eisenhower played hard ball with extraordinary skill. the year was 1956. it was one week before the november presidential election, eisenhower was basically finishing his first term and a week later be elected for what would become his second term. in all of a sudden, great britain, france and israel

joined forces and seized the canal. they did it knowing that eisenhower was strongly opposed to doing they did it any and they thought they could get away with it. he doesn't want to lose the jewish vote. if this is what israel wants to do, they thought he would not respond and they were wrong. he said i want you to go out and buy all the british pounds you can. once he had done that, eisenhower picked up the phone and called the british prime minister. he said if you don't get all those troops out of the immediately, i will drive the pound down to zero.

-- what was he going to do, that's how you play hard ball when people get out of line and disrupt your tactics and goals for -- in this case, trying to maintain international order. . they can't seem to agree on design. when you're in dc. go to the arlington national cemetery and the tomb of the unknown soldier, remember that before he was president the architect of the division -- d day invasion, excuse me, and he held that position in the military and he served with distinction as president, for many reasons. one of the main reasons was he knew how to play hard ball when people got out of line in order to make sure that his goals didn't get sidetracked.

great leader never wants to appear that he's panicking, always wants to appear like he's in a mode of being able to make good decisions. the president who was particularly good was john f. kennedy. from our book, the kennedy biographer was sheldon stern. he was the historian resident of the library in boston for over 20 years and as the author of three books on the cuban missile crisis. you'll remember the soviet delivered nuclear missiles into cuba. obviously, we had to respond. john f. kennedy called his cabinet, his top advisers, called them the executive committee and these meetings

took place over the course of 13 days. unbeknownst to everybody, those conversations over 13 days were secretly tape recorded. john and robert kennedy decided they wanted to record the meetings and they did it for the same reason nixon wanted to take tape record his oval office because they thought it would always be their personal property. would never become available to scholars and the publicment sheldon stern was the first to listen to all 43 hours. what he learned from those tapes, that with each take, all of kennedy's advisers were ramping up their voess, insisting strong retaliation, which is necessary if you're going to go those missiles out

of cuba. thank goodness the person who is in charge, president john f. kennedy. over the course of 13 days, calm head, negotiated an agreement that caused missiles to be removed from cuba. we there by avoided what surely could have been world war 3. when you see the kennedy memorial in washington, d.c., think about john kennedy, how he kept us us from world war three and there by allowed us to continue to enjoy our american way of life which, among other things, includes the privilege of enjoying the arts. -- and seventh commandment and mindful and good timing when pursuing initiatives. the philosopher car las said warrior/great leaders recognize

the cubic center meter of chance that can make or break them. when it pops up, they move on it with the necessary speed and paralysis to capital liez kapt the opportunity. on the modern era linden johnson, in the way -- and most important civil rights legislation. -- i interviewed taylor branch and the head of the lbj library and johnson biographer. lbj's daughter and his white house counsel, larry temple. from then i learned the answer to troubling question, why in the world did linden johnson wait so long before he became

champion of civil rights legislation. after all. he arrived in congress -- every single civil rights bill. in 1957 as the majority leader he took over out of the bill. it was passed but it had no effect. why did he wait until he was president before he final. and lbj, if you read much about him, country expressions that were always right on the mark, why did you wait to you were president, he said, you don't try to kill the snake until you've got the ho in your hand. [ laughter ] okay. as president, he had the ho in his hand with jim crow

segregation laws. you're aware, he had served in congress for 15 years with even his greatest admires acknowledged he didn't take his job seriously. he had no idea how to get legislation passed. and then as president, of course, the civil rights movement erupted. martin luther king was getting thrown in jail all the time. riots. timely after more than two years kennedy got serious and made a strong civil rights speech and submitted a strong civil rights bill to congress, but got stuck in committee and had no idea how to get it out before he was assassinated. now, after kennedy's death with the ho in his hand, lyinden johnson moved forward, he knew he had a nation in grief with a loss over the young president.

so he reached out to those in congress who were obstructing the civil rights bill and he used this argument, look, we all need to do something major, historic to preserve the important legacy and memory of our dear departed john f. kennedy, let's make him the martyr for the cause of civil rights and it resinated and people changed their minds. busted the filler buster and passed the law in 1964. now larry temple both said, the conventional wisdom suggested after he had been elected before taking on such a highly controversial bill as the civil

rights bill by then it would be too late and lost the momentum associated with the public desire to recognize and honor the beloved former president l.b.j. did the same thing with voting rights in 1965. nothing, nothing was happening. and then along came bloody sunday, selma, 1965 when police troops started beating up unarmed peaceful as a protest against the lack of voting rights in alabama the image of these police beating up the african-americans reminded of nazi germany and it was moral outrage over bloody sunday and lbj saw cubic center meter of chance, now is the time.

his we shall over come speech and immediately submitted a bill to congress, which soon became the voting rights act of 1965. -- the house refused to agree a version of the bill, how are we going to get this unstuck, boom. martin luther king was assassinated. april 4, 1968, just like you've done with kennedy, lbj reached out and said this was a major leader. we've got to do something historic to preserve his legacy, let's make him the martyr for fair housing. within a matter of days the house agreed to senate version and fair housing act of 1968 was passed. so in washington, d.c. you have the linden b johnson department of education building move with

perfect timing in pursuing his initiatives that allowed us to have integration sooner rather than later he communicated and followed through the best was ronald reagan. the people i interviewed for my book on reagan were his chief of staff and second term james baker and his biographer finalist hw brant. i talked to them about many aspects of reagan's life, but i wanted to zoom in, what made him the great communicator. well, the aknee jerk reaction, e knew how to look the camera in

the lie with full dramatic force. no. no. it was a lot more than that. was the disposition in the spirit of optimism that we've got better days away and that gave americans hope and allowing him to channel the inner voice of the american people. jam james baker said it was consistent. you know in the modern era, in the final draft. -- the most important speech attempting to bring an end to the cold war. he said, tear down this wall.

now, the speech with that line went through many drafts. every time his speech writers kept taking the line out, they thought it was too inflammatory and would alien nate. reagan knew better. he kept putting the line back in. he knew june 12, 1987, the time was right. the place was right. his entire foreign policy, first political speech in 1964 has finally arrived and the speech writer, he gave us the word that will forever give him a special place in our history. tear down this wall. and clear and passionate and right on the market and kept

that momentum going and completed with his successor, george h.w. bush. when you go to washington, you fly into reagan airport, you think about aviation. aviation is all about having optimism and having clarity and consistency and having follow through, if you're doing to land airplanes successfully and being the key of what make ronald reagan the great communicator. great leader put people's interest above his own personal political interest. person who was particularly good in that was george h.w. bush. from my book, i learned about president bush from his buy ago

g -- biographer. and now 1988 republican republican convention i'm sure you remember now was his prime time speech national television, he said six very important words, read my lips, no new taxes and the convention cheered and he got elected in 1988. well, the tax issue was politically huge. and in our national deficit, our federal deficit. and became aware that we had to do something because the rest of the world was buying fewer t bills over concerns about the strength of the american economy, with the record level.

when the 1990 budget talks came along in both houses of congress were controlled by the democratic party's attempt who absolutely refused to cut any aspect of spending, if you're going to have any money available to try to cut the deficit, that's only way to do it, new tax revenues. not only were new tax revenues going to be needed to cut the deficit. but the iraqi army had just invaded kuwait. bush saw leaning on the horizon, expensive military work there, which, of course, became the gulf war and it didn't want to fight a war on borrowed money. so president bush broke his convention pledge, agreed to new taxes and it triggered an immediate newt gingrich and republican party and certainly a factor in his losing 1992

election. could president bush kept that convention. because he had it would have been in 1990 budget talk. shutdown and no money would have been available to address the increase that was in the world, lack of confidence that would continue to grow. we'll put the country first over his own personal political. washington, d.c. we had the george w. and head -- say it remember, president bush there's a courageous president who is willing to for the good of the

country -- the great leader and shall find ways to shape it so as to align with his own vision. and the president who was the best of this was our greatest. abe lincoln sentiment is everything. whoever mold -- the decision. out of the judiciary. the two lincoln was great and two chapters in my book, two different top historians. who last year won the lincoln prize regardless of what seemed lincoln historian. he's written dozens of books on lincoln and ronald white, who wrote three books on lincoln,

his book a lincoln, "new york times" best seller during by 2009. i believe is the best biography of lincoln. so public sentiment, how do we get our arms around public sentiment. lincoln knew in his day he wanted to understand what the people were thinking the best way was to stay connected to the people who ran the local newspapers in each of the towns. he always made a point of stopping at the newspaper office talking to the publisher and editor and the reporter and so he could narrow the talk of their town. once he found out what people were thinking, he then could come up with the strategy to get their thinking to move in the direction of his vision and that certainly what he did as president by the way he approached, then he went very

complicated and controversial issue of slavery during the civil war. now, obviously, the civil war was raging. it was a huge issue. and lincoln decided he wanted the issue an emancipation proclamation. first was issued right after september 22, 1862. that was preliminary version and final was issued january 1, 1863. now, i don't know if there's anybody in this audience who has ever read the emancipation proclamation from beginning to end, it's not particularly long. it is a pretty boring, not eloquent document. people have said it reads like a bill of lading. they drew it up airtight because he knew he was going to have pass constitutional mustard and emancipation, slavery, surely somewhere in that document there

would be reference to the immorality of slavery, the unjust fact that people of different races were treated differently and that that would be the basis for why we need to emancipate the slaves, but you won't find that language in there. and the reason you won't is because lincoln new public sentiment. he knew that some people in the north and many people in the border states had not made up their mind on what to do about slavery, do you abolish immediately, over time, do we need to abolish it at all. it was high uncertainty about the best way to go about abolishing slavery. lincoln knew that and he knew that if he had set the basis for the emancipation proclamation was moral justice basis, they grew a lot of push back because there was so much -- such of a mixed reaction and mixed perception on what to do about slavery. but also because he knew public sentiment, he knew there was one

thing that the public, 100% agreed upon. and that was we need to bring an end to the civil war asap. we need to stop the killing and the wounding and the disruption. if you, as commander in chief, think that as a matter of military necessity, that's the language lincoln put in the emancipation proclamation and issueness is a matter of awe then tis, so that those slaves who escaped could join the union forces. you think that's what we need to put an end to this war, go for it. we're all for you. it was very little push back on the emancipation proclamation. it sets the stage for the 13th amendment, which became the subject of the steven spielberg film. so when you go to washington, d.c., you see the lincoln memorial inside. you see the statute, great

emancipator, i hope when you look at that you look into his eyes. you think, oh my god, she's looking in my eyes. say, no, he's looking beyond me. he had a personal vision. but he had a long range vision. he knew how to figure out what the public sentiment was and shape it aligned in bringing the country back together. -- now in the days ahead i hope everybody in this room will go to a quiet place by yourself and think about ten questions i'm about to ask that are tied to the ten commandments you just heard. now, i'm not going to tell you how to answer these questions

with people you respect. if i believe that by answering these ten questions based on these commandments from the pages of presidential history, it provides a really good method for what voters need to be thinking about that very important happens and you vote on november 8. who is better suited to be conscious. who is more likely to stay above above the partisan stray. who is going to have the awareness to be able to recognize the strengths and weaknesses and align with those people who are strong in the areas where he or she is weak. . this is a matter of record of persevering over setbacks.

who is more likely to play hard ball skillfully when necessary. who is likely to replain calm and make good decisions in a crisis. who is more mindful of the cubic centimeter of chance and perfect timing when pursuing initiati s initiatives. who is better communicator and will follow through on what he or she says? who is going to put the nation's interest above personal interest? who is going to say abreast public sentiment and find ways to shape to move in ways that align with his or her vision? i hope you will think about these questions until now or the time you vote. you'll be aided by blessings from presidential history. i had the great privilege of lying over the last three years

and interviewing the top presidential experts both scholars who did the heavy research as well as insiders who worked side by side. our president, those who have served so well now, thank you very much. [ applause ] . >> we're coming. >> yes. >> each of the presidents and doing the president and interviewing here in advisory and historians.

which is more compelling to you as a personality. zbh as a personality -- not only did he have responsibility for dealing with great depression, also world war ii, but to do it in the mode of his disability and always be in the mode of giving the country hope in our darkest hours. nobody had to deal with that kind of disability, nobody persevered and rose to the highest possible -- as you were setting this book and all different personalities, what

surprised you the most about whom. >> the most surprising thing that i learned in the book was about the john f. kennedy and cuban missile crisis. because after john f. kennedy was assassinated. then, within a matter of time, bobby kennedy decided he wanted to run for president. bobby kennedy begin writing the book for 13 days, the cool head in the room. while he was writing this and showing it to the others who were there at the meeting. they said, that's not the way i remember it, bonny. bobby's response was, my brother would understand. he was assassinated and he completed the job and portrayed bobby as the hero he wrote 13

days and arthur acted like it was. that bobby was pounding the table the same as everybody else. so it is a very important lesson about how always go to the best sources and when you're taking somebody's word, or conduct, you better do some real due diligence to make sure that there's accuracy and corroborated -- historian residents at the residential library in boston. yes, sir. >> when they turned to president -- affiliated with president johnson, did you decide to exclude her.

she agreed to do it. so i did not bat a thousand and to participate, but nobody and very satisfied lincoln team arrival and absolutely top price and so i feel very good about the caliber about each of the president. understand, look, i did not find a biographer of every american president. if i had found for every

american president -- it will be 1,300 pages instead of 500 pages. i identified who i thought -- and nobody deserved, but nonetheless, he was the president when the great depression hit. and so i found a major -- for every significant president some of the key lincoln, fdr, because it was so weird, had actually two historian chapters -- i thought in 2016, we did not have this deep public fascination for the life of philip. i think many of our presidents were, in fact, insignificant. 500 pages is the length of the book and it's big enough and heavy enough as it is. i will tell those of you who

encouraged to keep up the book, read about the presidents of your lifetime, first. you don't have to read this book in particular order. you don't have to start on page one with george washington. read about the president of your lifetime, you know the most about them. the questions are going to plug right in. and they'll get you comfort wbl the question, answer format of the book and once you finished those chapters will go read about the presidents who preceded the lifetime. that's my recommendation on how i think you'll enjoy the book the most. >> thank you so much. and thank you to everyone for coming. we have a distinguished member of the audience. and i know you have great taste in history. you, too can be an owner of the book. it has the best cover of any

book in publication. thanks to cspan for filming this tonight. thank you all for coming to get the upcoming program, we hope a big surprise in november. . we look forward to seeing you on the 26th. he'll have two of us trying to replace her. she's coming back from around and she'll have many stories to tell. so stay home and thank you. come again soon. [ applause ]

>> talks about her book for fear of an elective king, george washington and the presidential title controversy of 1789.

because of concerns that the position will become too much like a mon narc, george washington university hosted this event as part of celebration honoring the first president's birthday. . it's about an hour.

history of washington, d.c., unparalleled. the third verse is that this is the first year that we featured one of the own history phds. this -- claimed study of the presidential title of 1789 the

subject of tonight's event. this year george washington lecture is a little different. we felt this year, this made more sense, to welcome more audience participation. so, please, have your questions ready, in addition, immediately following the conversation, there will be a reception in the lobby and she'll be signing her book. i brought my copy. if you forgot yours it will be on sale out there. for a few introductions, first our speaker's husband, welcome.

>> editor, but also for a couple of reasons, first for participating in the george washington lex in 2012 and also for working closely as she was visiting scholar, at the first federal commerce project. finally we welcome, a treasured alone of gw and guest experience of george washington mount vernon. welcome, jamie. >> featured doctor in history of 2010. she's also a visiting scholar of

the president. think that mount vernon, organization of -- the daughters of the american revolution and while working as chief and information management for the wild life service and as director of fish and game, and california state land commission. >> amazing research tells the story of how actively establishment of the government under the constitution, congress, individual all debated more than 30 titles so that we're a nation. a few that did not make the cut, included his heinous and the favorite, se screen heinous.

washington 44. as a mags prepares to lesser successor, to the office of george washington defined 225 years ago we couldn't be any luckier to have someone with the original. welcome to the stage. >> you know, i love this book. what i really wonder about, why

historians for so long have dismissed the controversy, just the curiosity, something that will be a paragraph or something in a book. . i'm interested how you came to this topic? >> first of all, they were wondering other historians wondered why spent so much time on it when they could have been working on them the amendment or what we know what they didn't quite realize how important it was -- on what they were going to do. about how washington became. and i came across -- you know,

washington's presidency was trapped of the republican candidate. -- i didn't believe it. i thought it must have been dynamic also. . and he started talking about controversy and republican gave the idea and happened to mention that they have this multitude material -- the more i thought about it -- so. >> that was the best time. >> great. let's take a step back. it's not often to people today.

i think we take it for granted. the presidency. this is something of radical creation. if you can say a little bit the american people have of the presidency, of this new executive office -- and place within a popular sovereignty is complicated and the presidency was quite controversial in the beginning. the american nation had just bought a war and years after the end of the war, this new constitution, untried featured a federal single central executive with no term limits and vaguely de defying -- what kind of a

president does the country that were worried that the president would turn into all powerful mon narc, too much like what the traditional kind of king would be. another group of americans worry about weak executive that would be subject to corruption. -- they would be more interested in a strong title to kind of act this week, this weak president. >> it seems like all sides agreed, though, that the person should be in george washington. >> yes. >> he was the obvious choice. >> yes. he was really -- he was the most

trusted man in america, i will say he's the most president in the western world, at that time, really. when you think about it. and so he studied at the end of the war -- he and the nation were one, the union. -- people celebrated him, though, with such enthusiasm that he was -- for the presidency, a blessing, as i said, trusted guy that he was, but he was on the kusle for the presidency as well. -- it was almost like a rapture

in people at times. the public loved him and they loved to celebrate him. and as a result he brought this rift of monarchy to the presidency just in the wake of people celebrated him and that was a problem for the presidency for this office that he was going to be occupying. so, yes, he was a terrific guy and only -- the only choice for a really successful first president because of the trust that people had in him that he could inhabit the presidency, this controversial position and they could trust him in that position. but he brought with him some problems. >> uh-huh. >> question i sometimes get, and you probably do as well, if not washington, who would be the next obvious choice, the answer there wasn't another choice. he was indispensable man at that

moment. >> yes. >> that brings us to this question of what to call him, this debate that you write about, you know, the title controversy. i wonder if you can give us a little bit of background to the debate -- the constitution says this person will be the president of the united states, why did they feel like they needed something more than that. >> once the senate convened. wa -- he starts making his journey from -- he's coming to new york, the senate is convening.

and it's really no surprise that people start wondering what are we going to call him once he arrives. are we going to call him mr., i don't think so. washington had been already addressed as general and your excel len si during the revolutionary war. at that time, governors were addressed as your excel len si. the governor of georgia, in the constitution it said that he must be your honor. it actually specifies a title for him. so with washington coming, this person who so celebrated like a king calling him your excel len si which is the highest title along with general that he holds and it's also the same title that's held by all of the state governors and, yet, he's suppose to be the head of this new

federal government. the question was, what should we call, not just washington, but what should we call the president. and they merge somewhat because he was so celebrated. your excel len si did not seem quite mo jestic enough for him. at the same time, it was already used for state governors and so what are we going to start this new federal officer. wonders what he suppose to do. think he's going to go to the senate. he's the president constitutionally. this was something that he pushed -- one thing i really like about your book, other people just dismiss out of the kind of crazy or kind of ridiculous thing he did.

there were reasons. >> right. >> yeah. >> for. >> even though he was a high federalist. adam was more concerned about a weak executive than a strong executive. okay. he was concerned that the executive would be corruptible, i think, when he had been in britain as an ambassador, there, perhaps he had seen king george manipulated by his court. so he was worried and richard henry lee the senator from virginia was also very worried about lead executive. so they felt one of the ways to shore up the executive was to give him some tremendous title. and this would somehow help. now the senate majority felt

this way. part of the reason that they did was -- was that they really found themselves in a bit of the bind, the senate did. because the people who will most cheerful of this executive, those that they thought would be the most manipulative of the executive senate, state. and adam was very afraid that the state elite would over power executive. not so much washington with his incredible authority, but all the presidents to come. so the senate did find itself in a bit of a bind if they didn't give the president a high title, then they would be accused an

aris crated body to avert his aauthority. they gave him a high title, they accused of being monarchs. >> you'll have to give us a few titles. >> well, the senate and people, you know, the american people devoted over 30 titles, most with royal over tones, especially various forms of heinous and your majesty, elective majesty, sacred majesty, okay. majesty, washing put forth as denver said, because shouldn't all the other presidents try to be as wonderful as washington was? you know, they should aspire to his -- to the grandness of his name. there was a suggestion that at

least for washington, his name should be the delight of humankind. >> there was president general, it went on and on. president was one of the suggestions. some people were like, forget all this, let's call him president. there was a large and vocal group. there were a lot of other titles. the senate findingself in this bind as it was. especially with the house being adamantly opposed. the house was always composed, to the title. and in subcommittees when they would try to meet to come up with some other title, the house

would not budge. and so eventually what happened in in the end after the three weeks of legislative debate on this issue, during what i call the legislative phase of the controversy the senate capitulated completely to the house, went with the simple title of president with no introductory elaborate extra address. however, in that resolution, they begin with the recommendation that the senate felt that his title should be his highness, president of the united states and protector of their liberties. >> that would be a mouthful. president and protector obama. you know, i mean, really, that's what it would have been if the senate would have had their way. >> it's an amazing story. and something that you accomplished, i think, i really

admire, how you treat washington in this book. because there's this long tradition suggesting that during this whole debate. somehow washington's in the background cheering for one of these illustrious titles. you show the opposite. tell us about washington's role and what you think was on his mind during this period. >> i want to say the title controversy is riffe with gossip and innuendo. my book is filled with catty facebook posts. and yet in all of that. all of that gossip and innuendo, never did i find any evidence that washington supported a

title. that's my first argument against it, i have several in the book. one of the big arguments against washington supporting a title is that he wrote in a letter to his son in law, david stewart and a grand confidant. a grand friend of his controversy, before he arrived on the scene in new york. he predicted the uproar it would cause. and the harm it was doing to the perceptions of the new federal government. he was from virginia. i think they ratified the constitution by one vote. his neighbors were already going, you're going to